XBox 360 to get CPU upgrade

[D_o_S]

Microsoft will be trying to cool its steamin' hot XBox 360 with a new CPU upgrade.

The new CPU will be manufactured by the 65nm process, allowing it to run cooler. Also, as more chips will fit onto a wafer, prices could go down.

Looks like the days of Microsoft's 'burning' XBox 360 are counted, and people who purchase the upgraded 360 will hopefully be able to enjoy silent gameplay.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[HaZe303]

It´s great news for the people that buy a 360 in 2007. But what about us suckers that have this rev1 360?? Our soon to be outdated machine, will it even cope up with the newer games... if its too slow i mean??? Guess i have to sell this one, and buy me a new one in 2007... MS are incredibly stupid, or really really smart?? With this news they could make people to wait until 2007 to buy one of their console´s. Or if this is smart, people will buy one now... and one in 2007!!?? Hmmm wonder how it will go??!

 

[Satchmo]

It´s great news for the people that buy a 360 in 2007. But what about us suckers that have this rev1 360?? Our soon to be outdated machine, will it even cope up with the newer games... if its too slow i mean???

its not that kind of upgrade. the cpu will be of smaller and more efficiant manufacturing, it wont be any faster. just run cooler which will make the fan not run as heavy, meaning it will be less loud.

the only difference between this one and yours, is this one will be less loud, probably lock up less, and actually will have a longer life span.

 

[CjStaal]

oc better, and I'm damn shure someone will oc a 360

 

[Keiki]

Hmm, I'm wondering if they made the cpu slower? Because running it cooler and more silently usually means an underclock...

 

[Darksaber]

Hmm, I'm wondering if they made the cpu slower? Because running it cooler and more silently usually means an underclock...

Well if a manufacturing process is moved from (I think in this case) 0.09 micrometer to 0.065 micrometer a few things happen:

1. the actual size of the chip becomes smaller
2. the chip needs less voltage to run at the same speed as before
3. that in turn leads to a cooler chip (no not coolness, but temperature )

so you will still have your 3 cores at 3.2Ghz a piece, but mit much less heat being released by the chip. That in turn means that the fans do not need to work as hard, fast and thus loud as the rev1 xbox 360.

And since the number one cause for lockups is heat with these consoles..the new manufacturing process is a good move.

The first rev of the orig. Xbox had more fans as well, while the v1.6 Xbox only had one fan in the back.

cheers
DS

 

[HaZe303]

Yeah and 65nm means better performance aswell. If they dont underclock the cpu´s somehow... so it will be better than rev1... and of course cheaper.. the reason why ms is doing this...

Satchmo:"Its not that kind of upgrade. the cpu will be of smaller and more efficiant manufacturing, it wont be any faster. just run cooler which will make the fan not run as heavy, meaning it will be less loud."

I know that, i was being a bit sarchastic... But it will perform better... its not only for cooler, cheaper runnings, its also better perf..

 

[bigboi86]

It will only perform better if it's being overclocked. If they run at the same speed, then the only difference will be less heat/voltage.

The 130nm A64's didn't run clock for clock faster than the 90nm cpu's, I don't think there would be any difference here. Unless they put in a completely different type of chip.

 

[Satchmo]

.... the guy obviously doesnt understand.

just because it runs cooler doesnt mean it will perform faster..... this theory makes no sense at all.

yes if a cpu is overheating it will have issues, and perform worse. but the reverse is not true, i cannot chill my cpu to -15c and have it do any better then at 40-60c, however if its running at 70-90c chances are im going to see some problems and the chip will probably die from overheating.

think of it this way, your cd player takes 2 AA batteries to operate and will operate for 3 hours total. New technology comes along, that can be added to your cd player that enables it to use the battery power more efficiantly, allowing for 6 hours of play time. This doesnt mean your cd player will play the songs at higher quality, or make them load faster from the cd. it just simply means the cd player wont use as much power from the batteries.

The way the chip is made will require less voltage then rev 1 360s chip does, which means not as much voltage is running through the chip, which means there wont be as much heat.
The fan on the cpu is told to run faster when the cpu is at a certain temperature in an attempt to lower its temperature, the faster the fan runs, the more noise its going to make. therefore less voltage = less heat = less work from fan = less noise from fan. and same performance as long as they didnt up the clocks, or increase the bandwidth on the motherboard.

 

[Mercenary4]

This is the main reason to stick with a PC over a console. It is doubtable that the new chip will result in a lower priced unit, we are talking about MS and any console is sold for a loss. The loss is made up by the software, that is where the money is at!

 

[Apocolypse007]

it will take a while for ms to mod other parts to accomodate the new manufauring process put into the cpu, meaning they will have to change the mainboard as well.

as for myself, i was smart enough to get a 3 yr warranty on my 360, so if it dosent perform to spec, then i will get the newer revision, and if it does work fine, then there is no problem

 

[HaZe303]

Satchmo, i understand... very well... i think you dont understand me... im from sweden, maybe my english is not good enough for and idiot like you, but what i mean is that when a cpu is cooler it performs better... this is common knowledge... so cooler=better performance!! Do you understand me now??? You embacil...

This is from a swedish site, i have translated it myself the best way i could.

www.fz.se wrote:
Even though Microsoft barely just released the Xbox360 to retail sales, are they already
working on upgrading it´s hardware. In a communiqué it is told that the 360´s Cpu is changed
next year. The new component, is told to draw less current, and there by also be cooler
but is expected still even with better/faster components, not to be any faster in performance
in contingency to preserve compability to older 360´s.

So what they mean is that the 360 could be faster performer, but to have compability with the rev1 360´s they wont be any faster...

So maybe im the one not understandings this correctly, or its you that dont understand Satchmo!!! LOL

 

[Satchmo]

Satchmo, i understand... very well... i think you dont understand me... im from sweden, maybe my english is not good enough for and idiot like you, but what i mean is that when a cpu is cooler it performs better... this is common knowledge... so cooler=better performance!! Do you understand me now??? You embacil...

This is from a swedish site, i have translated it myself the best way i could.



So what they mean is that the 360 could be faster performer, but to have compability with the rev1 360´s they wont be any faster...

So maybe im the one not understandings this correctly, or its you that dont understand Satchmo!!! LOL

LOL "IM FROM SCHVEDEN!" In a mocking schveden accent.

 

[bigboi86]

Satchmo, i understand... very well... i think you dont understand me... im from sweden, maybe my english is not good enough for and idiot like you, but what i mean is that when a cpu is cooler it performs better... this is common knowledge... so cooler=better performance!! Do you understand me now??? You embacil...

What you do not understand is that a cooler running CPU does not equal better performance.

The performance of a processor is based on a lot more things than just operating temperature.

When they do a die-shrink and temps get lower, it also allows for higher overclocks, other than that a lower temperature is not going to make it perform better.

If I ran a benchmark of my CPU running 55C, and then ran that same benchmark at -50C, I assure you there would be no difference.

Also, name calling is quite immature..

 

[spy2520]

Also, name calling is quite immature..

i think they chilled out, all the LOLs make it right...LOL

 

[Satchmo]

honestly though

if performance means output strength to voltage usage, then yes the xbox360 rev.2 will out perform the rev.1

performance as in actual computing strength, no the xbox360 rev.1 and rev.2 will perform the exact same, the rev.2 will run cooler, use less volts, and the fan be less loud as a result.

and name calling is immature, but since ur like, 12 or whatever i understand and forgive you.

LOL

 

[spy2520]

LOL



mine is bigger so it negates more name-calling...man am i bored...

up goes the post count

 

[HaZe303]

You are all morons... specially you satchmo..you guys dont seem to know much of processors...

http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2789&Itemid=2 Read the last lines!!

The Microsoft rumor mill had been quiet for some time but as E3 approaches the pace has once again picked up. The only confirmed story is probably the scariest one for current XBox 360 owners and has to do with a CPU upgrade being prepared for the console. The agreement between Microsoft and Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing mentions manufacturing of CPU products-using 65-nanometer (nm) Silicon-on-Insulator (SOI) semiconductor technology -for Microsoft's Xbox 360 game consoles. Production is expected to begin in the first quarter of 2007 and the move to 65 nm will help keep power consumption and heat build-up within the X360 low. This leaves room for a performance improvement as well as a greater profit margin for Microsoft but there are some problems associated with such a move.

Console manufacturers rarely take advantage of the increased power offered by new CPUs as compatibility issues could arise while current XBox 360 owners would not be very happy to have paid a premium for a slower console.

Read this youre self:
http://www.megagames.com/news/html/console/x360-newcpuhd-dvdandmame.shtml

Or are you guys still trying to tell me you know best??? Damn you guys are hardheaded..

I know im much smarter than you guys are... but man, atleast get youre shit together when you open youre mouths, specially when you dont have anything to say but BS. This forum is a joke, i thought you guys were smart. Guess i was wrong bout that... MoronTechForum...could be a new good name for you guys... LOL...

One last thing, its so funny when computer nerds, specially from the U.S. think they are some super intelligent all knowing Gods. I FLMAO every time i meet such nerds. It so funny...You sitt by a computer...wooow.. im shitting my pants... LMAO

LAMERS...

 

[wazzledoozle]

This thread makes me lol.

 

[spy2520]

i'm LOLing right now... LOL, by the way, any time a cpu has better cooling there is room for a performance improvement right? like when you change coolers so you can potentially overclock higher. the key word would most likely be "potentially", "this leaves room for a perfomance improvement" is just like saying the xbox has performance potential, but not necessarily will it have a gain.

potential = shit that could possibly happen...

--super intelligent all knowing GOD #2520

 

[Satchmo]

It is not going to be the xbox370...

alright lol, im gonna try to be nice about this... lol

unless im mistaken, the thread was a news statement about the xbox 360's cpu getting an upgrade.

now, xbox 1, which i know much about went through 6 revisions. 1.0-1.6

i have a rev 1 xbox modded in every way possible. and it was discussed in xbox-scene forums hundreds of times whether or not the xbox's cpu, ram or gpu could be upgraded.

yes, it can, the hardware itself can be upgraded. Many should remember the N64 did have an upgrade available some years after its release. there was a front loader ram upgrade available, that boosted the ram from 16 to 48mb or ram , or something around that area.

now most of you understand that console games are made exactly for the specific hardware of that console, no more no less, no alternate or substitute. which means if u had a 3ghz intel put into your n64 and it was compatible, n64 games would not even attempt to utilize more then the stock n64 had, they simply werent designed to.

however Nintendo thought of an idea about console upgrades, and forwarded this idea to developers of games for the n64. they were instructed to make the games detect whether or not the consumer (thats you) had bought the upgrade and to utilize this upgrade.

What would change?

it wouldnt be fair to stock console owners, if a game company produced a game for their console that ran @ 20fps because they didnt buy the upgrade. so instead having the upgrade meant more features were unlocked. games were developed to detect and utilize the extra ram up to 14 months before the ram upgrade was released. Many people were extremely angry they didnt get the full game unless they paid extra for the upgrade.

games like starcraft64 had no multiplayer unless you had the upgrade. 007 goldeneye, yes...this legendary game was the oldest to have the ram utilization integrated, and simply upped the bullethole sprite count, and upped draw distance while ingame.

anyways alot of people got pissed and it was deemed unfair. The xbox is not gaining any extra performance from this revision.

across the many revisions of the original xbox, many things were changed, including die size reductions, security enhancements, the number and placement of fans, the dvd reader even changed brands and read speeds, and even the hard drive capacity changed over the different revs.

heat was reduced, the number of fans reduced, the overall power consumption reduced. It had many, many revisions and major changes, and had huge increases in POTENTIAL performance increases, but never recieved them.

PLEASE STFU YOU DUMB SCHVEDISH DIPSHIT THE XBOX360 REMAINS THE XBOX360.

 

[CjStaal]

You are all morons... specially you satchmo..you guys dont seem to know much of processors...

http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2789&Itemid=2 Read the last lines!!




Read this youre self:
http://www.megagames.com/news/html/console/x360-newcpuhd-dvdandmame.shtml

Or are you guys still trying to tell me you know best??? Damn you guys are hardheaded..

I know im much smarter than you guys are... but man, atleast get youre shit together when you open youre mouths, specially when you dont have anything to say but BS. This forum is a joke, i thought you guys were smart. Guess i was wrong bout that... MoronTechForum...could be a new good name for you guys... LOL...

One last thing, its so funny when computer nerds, specially from the U.S. think they are some super intelligent all knowing Gods. I FLMAO every time i meet such nerds. It so funny...You sitt by a computer...wooow.. im shitting my pants... LMAO

LAMERS...

*sighs* It says it leaves room for a performance increase and there willnot be one if you read the "customers blahblah would not like slower consoles than revc2 blahblah" Saying that they could up the clock if they wanted to, since itruns cooler, but they wont....
Damn mexicans!

 

[bigboi86]

Know what they mean by "room for performance improvement"?

It means they can scale the CPU clocks up since it will run cooler(but they aren't doing that). Please refrain from using insults and profanity, you are proving nothing by it but your lack of vocabulary.

Just like I said before, if I run my processor at -50c or at +50c, I will gain no performance increase(unless I overclock).

The same applies here.

 

[newtekie1]

Now all they have to do is remember to take the protective foil off the thermal paste.